5 hours Ago By Ejike Kanife
Bolt , a leading e-mobility company in N igeria, says it has no plans to exit the Nigerian market any time soon. A company spokesperson disclosed this in a chat with Technext. According to them, besides not planning to leave the country, the company is not scaling down on its operations.
The already struggling Nigerian e-hailing space endured a poor 2024. This is mostly owing to increasing fuel prices. Last year, fuel prices rose by nearly 200%, requiring drivers to spend more on costs.
The riders weren’t spared as a steep economic downturn, high inflation and mass job cuts meant more people became too poor to afford e-hailing services. As a result, ride requests became scarce with ride-hailing companies reportedly enduring a loss of revenue and struggling to meet up with fund repatriations. It is against this backdrop that many observers have suggested that some ride-hailing companies could eventually exit or reduce their operations to viable cities like Lagos, Abuja, etc.
But Bolt Nigeria insists that it isn’t considering the options. In the chat, the spokesperson explained that the potential of the Nigerian market remains huge and instead the company is more likely to deepen its presence in the country. “ We view Nigeria as a strategic market with immense potential, and we have no plans to reduce our operations or exit the market.
On the contrary, we are focused on further deepening our presence, investing in innovative features to enhance safety and user experience, and creating economic opportunities for Nigerians ,” Bolt said. Like other players in the cab-hailing space, Bolt has seen its share of mishaps recently. In March 2024, the company laid off 22 of its 45 staff.
This represents nearly half of its workforce in the country. The staff affected includes senior management, effectively making it the first time the leading mobility company would be laying off members of its senior management. All of Bolt’s staff in Warri and Port Harcourt were affected by that wave while all but one have been laid off in Edo State.
According to the source who spoke with Technext, the job cuts in recent times are really about cutting costs to make the company more efficient and profitable. they said this particular one is likely about the unit economics of doing business in Nigeria. Bolt Nigeria, however, said they only made the difficult decision to discontinue collaboration with 22 employees in Nigeria.
The company said the decision was the result of the restructuring of customer support and operational processes in the country. Subsequently, to systematically increase fares and appease drivers on its platform, the company introduced a quasi-bidding system where riders are encouraged to accept a fare increase on a request if they are to convince drivers to accept their rides. It also recently introduced a fixed pricing system , according to some drivers operating on its platform.
It is important to note that both introductions are operational features that form part of the model employed by its biggest competitor, inDrive . Observers believe that harsh economic realities are making inDrive a favourite and running the other e-hailing companies out of the market. This explains the adoption of some of these features.
Bolt, however, insists this is not the case. The company said Nigeria remains one of its key markets in Africa, so it is firmly committed to its operations across the country. “ Since launching in Nigeria in 2016, Bolt has continued to expand its footprint, now operating in 33 cities nationwide.
This growth underscores our confidence in the Nigerian market and our commitment to creating reliable, affordable, and efficient transportation solutions for riders while empowering driver-partners to earn a sustainable livelihood ,” the Bolt spokesperson said..
